Beach Trip!

Well, we survived another beach trip with two busy babies. I am telling you, vacation with little ones is WORK! We had a great time, but it is always so nice to get home and back in a routine. Our trip last week was with my grandparents, mom, aunt, 2 cousins, and my older brother's family. It was fun to catch up with everyone, and it was so fun to see Landry and Collier getting to play with their G.G. and Peepaw (Grandma and Grandpa to me! Landry officially changed Grandpa's name to Peepaw this week all on her own). I have so many fun memories of them taking my family to the beach when I was little, and it is so sweet to see them making those sweet memories with my kiddos!

I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do (still plenty!), but I think I got some good ones. :)

Landry and Collier playing in the sand with G.G. 

My sweet girl. Had to keep that fair complexion covered up in the hot sun!

Silly face!

Cousin Chelsea, Aunt Linda, and Judd

Mimi with Judd and Landry

We tried family pictures a few different nights. The first night, we wanted to get the four great-grandchildren with my grandparents. With 4 kids under 4, there is never a picture of them all looking at the same time! :)

Laurel is such a HAM! I have so many pictures of her making these sweet little cheese faces.

Collier and G.G.

 The handsome men in my life!

 This is how most of the pictures of my kids turned out. :)

 G.G. and Peepaw with their 4 great-grandbabies.  

Laurel was ready! 

One of the best we got...:(

Mimi with the kiddos.

 Aunt Linda, Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma

Jamia and Laurel. Love this picture!

Sweet toes in the sand! I assure you, there are 8 quick little feet!

The "big kids" got to go out one night while the "old folks" watched the kids. :) It was a fun break!

We all spent a lot of time at the pool because the kids seemed to really enjoy that more. They didn't get splashed in the face with salt water, and they could swim around freely in their floaties.

Collier hanging out by the pool. 

He loved picking on Laurel and trying to take things away from her. She was a trooper and would give it right back to him! :) 

Collier and Cousin Chelsea

Laurel practicing her cheerleading moves!

Drew's family...

The last night, we decided to get pictures of our little family together. Landry was not in the mood to cooperate, but I think we still got a few good shots. Collier is so much fun to photograph right now!  

 Landry was unable to even ACT excited for 2 seconds, and she is not quite to the age of understanding bribery. LOL.

Collier on the other hand, loved it! 

This is my favorite...I could eat him up with a spoon!

And, finally, one little smile out of our little stinker!

We had a great time, and Landry is already talking about going back to play in the sand! We go again in September with Micah's side of the family, so she doesn't have too long to wait!

Beach Bums...

We have been at the beach with my family this week, and the kids have been having a great time! I have a million pictures to update later, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites before we get home.

Collier loved the sand and did really good about not eating too much. :)

Landry really enjoyed the sand, but especially loved playing in the ocean. "My play in water!" is one of her favorite new requests.

I have realized this trip that Collier is at SUCH a fun stage to photograph. Landry, not so much. Getting her to look/smile at the camera is like beating a dead horse. 

We are headed home soon, and excited to get back to "normal." :)

More pictures to come!

Stages

I know that I probably sound like a broken record all the time, but we are seriously at a fun stage in our lives right now! Collier is developing SUCH a personality, and Landry is just as sassy and entertaining as ever. Everyday it is something new for at least one of the babies. Landry is talking in full blown sentences, and Collier is starting to say his first few words. I can only imagine how noisy our house will be next year with TWO jabbering toddlers. Ha!

Last week, we had our favorite {almost} 10th grader over to play. Jane Anne loves my babies, and they sure love her too. These two pictures below are so funny because you can see the extremes in Landry's personality. One second happy, one second silly, and on and on. She is a mess!

Speaking of her being a mess, there are several things she is saying right now that I don't want to forget. The other night, we were eating spaghetti for dinner. Micah and I weren't paying attention, and we all the sudden heard her saying, "I washin' my body!" Silly girl had spaghetti sauce in her hand, and she was rubbing it all over her belly, arms, and legs!

Other updates on Ms. Sassy:

-She can count to 15 and says her ABC's clearly.

-I didn't know until yesterday, but she pretty much has her number and letter recognition down too!

-She can spell her name (thanks MiMi).

-She knows all of her main colors, but always seems to get black and white confused.

-She loves to count objects, but never gets it right. She just likes to keep counting!

Other funny things she is saying:

-A few days ago, I was pouring her smoothie that Micah made her for breakfast. She got so upset that Micah wasn't doing it for her, and she yelled, "Mama! Stop stealin' my boothie!!"

-Landry sleeps with a bed FULL of things. She has her "piyow," "bankets," and lots of stuffed animals. Every night when we put her down, we cover her up and hand her one of her babies that she sleeps with. Every night, without fail, when we hand her the first baby, she immediately says "My TWO baby!" She sleeps all night long with a baby on each side. It is so cute how she cuddles them, covers them up, pats them, etc. She is going to be a sweet mama (maybe to twins!) one day. :)

-Landry is (what I consider) potty trained. Over the last week, she has only had one or two accidents, and she quickly tells me when it is happening. She always tells us when she needs to go, and she is really good about giving us notice where we don't have to RUSH to the bathroom. She definitely has more accidents when we are away from home because I let her wear a pull-up when we are out.

The other day we were at TJ Maxx and she told me that she needed to potty. I took her in the restroom, but the toilets were the nastiest thing I have ever seen. Honestly, those of you who know me know that I am NOT a germaphobe, but there was no way my baby was sitting/touching/grasping/poking/exploring anything that was going on in those stalls. So, I told Landry, "Mommy is sorry, but you can't go potty here. You will have to hold it." She looked at me with the most serious face, pointed her little finger at me, and said, "Mommy, no accents!"

I still didn't take her, and she did have an "accent" on the way home. Oh well, she didn't get some random disease from the toilet, so we are good. :)

Only one more...I promise.

-As you can imagine, sometimes my house is a little chaotic. There are times where I see Landry doing something, can't get to her, and just have to holler and give her "the look." Lately, when I shout her name or call for her, she says "What?" Not in a sassy way necessarily, but I just think it is hilarious. The other day, I said her name, she asked "What?" and I was still busy and didn't respond. She stopped what she was doing, came over, tapped me on the leg and said "What?" continued tapping, "What?" until I answered her. She is really growing up way too fast!

Moving on to Mr. Collier. He is also growing too fast. I took him in for his 9 month appointment this morning, and he is a tall boy! He is in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight.

Other updates on Collier:

-He is pulling up on everything and walking behind the toys that move.

-He will let go of things and stand for several seconds on his own.

-He is starting to say "hi" and wave.

-He loves to eat and always wants what is on our plates.

-He is in size 4 diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

-I'm not sure on shoes because he screams every time I try to put shoes on him. :)

-He went from having 2 teeth to 8! A few are still pushing through, but I am saying 8 because he has worked hard for these 6 coming in at once!

-Still nursing, still no bottle, still no sippy, still no paci.  

-Collier is a total explorer and super fast. He can get into things that I didn't know were around and have a total mess before I know it. Landry was not like this at all!

-He loves taking baths and splashing in the water. The pictures below are of him a few nights ago. He loves to stick his head under the water while it is running. It is so funny, and doesn't seem to phase him at all! :)



So, as you can see we are at a very fun, but very busy phase in our lives. I love these two babies so much...and all the craziness that comes along with them! 

Mother's Day...

I had an absolutely wonderful 3rd Mother's Day. I know it is kind of cliche to say on this holiday, but I feel so blessed...I do! These two babies are more than I ever knew I wanted or could imagine myself having. I mean, really, they have such strong personalities and they make my life so exciting. Being a mommy is the best thing ever!

On top of me being elated to be a mommy myself, I have several friends who celebrated their first Mother's Day yesterday...friends who we didn't know could/would have kids. It warmed my heart to think of them on this special holiday and I thank God specifically for their little blessings. :) 

So...our day was nothing too exciting, but exactly what I wanted. We got up and went to church that morning. Micah made me blueberry pancakes and even made enough for us to take breakfast to our Sunday school class...y'all he made like 60 blueberry pancakes from scratch. They were awesome!

We came home from church, ate lunch, and put the babies down for naps. Then...this is the most exciting part...we went upstairs to the media room, put in The Vow, lounged around and acted like we didn't even have kids for two hours. Is that bad that acting like we did before we had kids was one of my favorite parts of the day? :) Honestly, it seems like we never take time to sit down and watch a movie together anymore. And, it was a great movie to top it all off!

After the kids woke up, we went outside and played. They both LOVE being outside so much.

Collier scooted around in his walker and Landry played in her Barbie Jeep and went on the "vroom vroom" with her daddy.

 Micah and the kids got me THE PERFECT right-hand ring and the sweetest MD card ever.

 That night I cooked one of our favorites, Chicken Fried Quinoa, for dinner.

The kids went down to bed easily, and for the rest of the evening we watched mindless television. Sometimes sitting and not having to THINK or DO is the best gift of all. :)

I posted on Facebook yesterday morning something that I really mean:

Basically, I know Mother's Day is supposed to be all "about me," but I would not be much of a mother if I was doing this all alone. I am so thankful to have Micah partnering with me through this journey. We laugh with each other through the trials of being parents and celebrate with each other through the joys.

I am thankful today for the gift of being a mother and the life that God created for me. Thankful for my beautiful mother and mother-in-law and especially the fact that they are still here for us to celebrate this holiday with.

Hope all you mamas had a great day too!



We like to laugh at our kids...

We like to laugh at our kids...is that so wrong?  They are like super-expensive entertainment, so we might as well have a little fun. :) A while back, Micah and I ran across a Razorback Speedo, and we about died! We knew we HAD to have it for Collier with so many swimming adventures ahead. I mean, I have seen babies in speedo-ish swim diapers, but never a real-deal-swimteam-ish speedo. He is so cool, and totally has the body to pull this off. :) Enjoy...

Collier is totally going to want to harm us someday for the things we have done to him. Especially all the pink things that he ends up playing with from his big sister. We went swimming out at Dado and Nana's for the first time the other night, and Collier was rockin' the pink floatie. :) Again, he can totally pull it off.

 Just for even measure, here is a very manly picture of Collier playing with a very manly green dinosaur that roars really loud.

Hope you guys have a great weekend! Our's is jam-packed with lots and lots to do. Looking forward to spending some time with my little family! 

A Trip to Dallas...

So, we found out several months ago that Micah won a trip for his production at work. He won the same award last year, but we already had a family vacation planned during the same time. We were so excited to get to go to Dallas this year, stay at the Four Seasons, go to fun dinners, play golf (Micah), lounge at the spa (ME!), and just have a fun get-away without babies. Well, little Collier changed our plans for us since he refused to be left behind (I probably could have left him, but he wouldn't have been able to eat for 4 days...and honestly probably wouldn't have. He is so stubborn!).

So, plans changed, but we still had a wonderful, wonderful trip! We found a babysitter through my cousin who used to live in Dallas, so we were still able to go out to all the fun dinners each night. The hotel had a kids area where Collier was able to go for a few hours while I went to the spa and then lounged by the pool with a friend. I didn't take my camera with us, so I only have a few pictures from my phone to share.

This is what I did a few days in a row. :)
I had two massages while I was there, and then went back one day just to relax in the spa area. I put a cold towel over my face and didn't move for an hour. No one talked to me, and it was heavenly.

Little man and I spent a lot of one-on-one time together. He is such a sweety, and his personality seems to really come out when he is by himself. Maybe I am just able to pay attention more...? Anyway, I loved getting special time with him!
He grabbed Micah's glasses off the nightstand, and got them on his face! How funny is that!?

One day when I ordered room service, it was 30 minutes late. The next day, they delivered "house-made truffles" in a pretty box with a fancy ribbon to apologize. I took a bite out of all 5 different kinds, and Micah quickly finished off the box later. They were delicious!

Collier-bean got to go swimming for the first time, and he loved it! He was so good, and didn't even make a peep at the pool until we got him in the water. Then, he was splashing, laughing, and smiling SO big. So sweet! :)

Love my little man...and his muffin top!

Micah and I got to go out to dinner Saturday night with some good friends that live in Dallas.

Kristin and Brad were our "dinner dates" for Saturday night. She is seriously one of my favorite people ever. It was super fun to have time together as couples....especially since she and I got to lounge by the pool together and catch up the day before! Love these sweet friends!

 Well, you might be wondering what Landry did while we were gone. She stayed with Mimi (my mom) and had a big time. One night was my mom's birthday, so they went out to dinner with my brother, grandparents, etc. It was also my SIL's birthday, so my mom ended up keeping their kids overnight one night too...3 kiddos 3 and under! By the way, my step-dad was out of town. Crazy Mimi! Needless to say, she was pretty exhausted by the time we came to pick Landry up, but I know she enjoyed every minute of it!

We Face-Timed with Landry every day, and she was always so happy to see Collier!

This day, she was not so happy because she wanted to talk to her Daddy and he was gone golfing. Seriously, look how excited I am to talk to her and then the devastation on her face.

My mom texted this picture of the 3 monkeys swinging...

And this picture just makes me laugh. When she texted it I thought they were baking cookies or making pudding or something along those lines. When I asked, my mom said that they were helping her stir up the scrambled eggs. Um...pretty positive that Landry is taking a BIG bite of whatever was in her bowl. :)

Anyway, our trip ended up being so much fun! So thankful that Micah was able to have a little break from work and relax a little bit. We are home and back in full swing...he has even had to wake up before 5 the past 3 mornings to have time to work out and make it to early meetings. Stinky, stinky, stinky. We are looking forward to a beach trip in the super-near future with my side of the family, so that is making the crazy schedule a little more tolerable! :)